Bay Scallop

Argopecten irradians

Bay Scallop
Photo credit: Rachael Norris and Marina Freudzon on Wikimedia

Status

Endangered

Physical 

Bay scallops are bivalves with circular, corrugated shells.  They have a row of 30 to 40 bright blue eyes around the edge of their shells. Unlike other bivalves, they do not have a foot for digging or a siphon for water intake.

Image by Rachael Norris and Marina Freudzon on Wikimedia

Habitat

Bay scallops live in estuaries, mainly in eelgrass beds.  Juveniles attach to eelgrass vegetation, which helps them avoid bottom-feeding predators such as sea stars.  Adults live on the sediment surface in eelgrass beds, where they move along the bottom by forcibly ejecting water from their shells.

 

Feeding 

Bay scallops are filter feeders, consuming plankton from the water.

Bay Scallop
Photo credit: Rachael Norris and Marina Freudzon on Wikimedia